I'm looking for recommendations on a replacement laptop.
I need a laptop that will function in spite of the fact that I am a massive multi-tasker. I don't want to close my email to do my spreadsheets and sometimes I need multiple spreadsheets while I am working on a word document containing graphics. I don't want to be rebooting to restore the computer on a regular basis. It pretty much kills my train of thought to do so. I want to be able to run Outlook with a couple of open messages, Excel with a couple of worksheets, word, and a couple of browsers at the same time. Ideally if my brain can move to and from those things I want my computer to do that too. Maybe I expect to much but in response to this question I'd like to know how much of that desire I can satisfy with a current on the market laptop.
I am not brand loyal but I would like to have something which offers an extended warranty and allows me to mail it back in to get that service which I would hope to NEVER have to do.
For an answer I would like to know what the operating system options are and why you think the one you recommend would meet my needs...please provide a price range, and a link so I can see more about it on their website and if available for mail to an APO address that would be even nicer but that wont be a deal breaker either way.
Your response needs to be in laymen terms on why the laptop meets my needs. While I can multitask with the tools I know, I am limited in understanding of computer hardware etc.
Function and meeting performance needs are more important to me than the cost of the laptop though of course a good deal would be nice.
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M$11 Answers
I checked Bestbuy for 15.4 inch and under new laptops with Windows 7 installed and at least 4GB of memory. APO shipping is available for most Bestbuy products. Almost all new laptops now come with Windows 7.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Computers-PCs/Laptop-Computers/abcat0502000.c?id=abcat0502000
New! Apple® - MacBook® Pro with 15.4" Display - Aluminum
Model: MC373LL/A | SKU: 9911575
Intel® Core™ i7 processor; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM; lithium-polymer battery; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 500GB hard drive; Bluetooth; built-in webcam; Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard included
$2,199.99
Dell - Studio Laptop with Intel® Core™ i7 Processor - Black Chainlink
Model: S1557-7493CBK | SKU: 9718877
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM; 9-cell lithium-ion battery; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.6" widescreen; 320GB hard drive; built-in webcam; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
$949.99
HP - ENVY Laptop with Intel® Core™ i7 Processor - Brushed Aluminum
Model: ENVY 15-1050NR | SKU: 9556394
ENERGY STAR QualifiedIntel® Core™ i7-720QM processor; 6-cell and 9-cell lithium-ion polymer batteries; 6GB DDR3 memory; external DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.6" widescreen; 500GB hard drive; built-in webcam; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
$1,899.99
Original Price: $1,999.99
You Save: $100.00
HP - Pavilion Laptop with Intel® Core™ i3 Processor - Mocha
Model: dv4-2167sb | SKU: 9726794
ENERGY STAR Qualified
Intel® Core™ i3-330M processor; 4GB DDR3 memory; 6-cell lithium-ion battery; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; LightScribe labeling; 14.1" widescreen; 320GB hard drive; built-in webcam; Bluetooth; Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
$1,011.99
Sony - VAIO Laptop with Intel® Core™ i5 Processor - Jet Black
Model: VPCCW27FX/B | SKU: 9723951
ENERGY STAR Qualified
Intel® Core™ i5-520M processor; 4GB DDR3 memory; 6-cell lithium-ion battery; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with Blu-ray Disc support; 14" widescreen; 500GB hard drive; built-in webcam; Bluetooth; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
$979.99
Toshiba - Satellite Laptop with Intel® Core™ i5 Processor - E205-S1904
SKU: 9999128800050004
This sleek, high-performance laptop has advanced features like a powerful Intel® Core™ i5 processor with Turbo Boost Technology, Intel® HD Graphics for stunning visuals, a backlit keyboard, recordable DVD drive and more. It also boasts Intel® Wireless Display technology that allows you to wirelessly connect the laptop to your HDTV to enjoy online media, videos, photos and more on a bigger screen.
$899.99
About the warranty, Bestbuy offers the following options for most laptops:
1-Year Accidental Protection Plan
2-Year Standard Protection Plan
2-Year Advanced Protection Plan
2-Year Premium Protection Plan
They are pretty expensive, but I recommend them if you're prone to breaking laptops.
If you rather invest on a tough laptop than on warranty, I recommend the following, which is actually on sale right now:
New! Panasonic - Toughbook 52 Laptop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor - Silver/Black
Model: CF-52FKP10AM | SKU: 9893366
ENERGY STAR Qualified
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor P8400; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM; 6-cell lithium-ion battery; DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.4" display; 160GB hard drive
$1,599.99
List Price $1,889.99
You Save: $290.00
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panasonic+-+Toughbook+52+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174;+Core%26%23153;2+Duo+Processor+-+Silver/Black/9893366.p?id=1218190732375&skuId=9893366&st=toughbook&cp=1&lp=1
It does not fit my recommendations in terms of processing power and memory, but it should be enough for your multitasking needs if you expand its memory. (It's expandable to 8GB.)
I will be happy to help you find an excellent laptop for you if you comment more about your budget or other things like screen size or brand.
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M$-quote-
"HP Pavilion DV6-2162NR 15.6-Inch Black Laptop--Up to 4.25 Hours of Battery Life
Price: $749.49
Technical Details
* Intel Core i3-350M processor (2.26 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
* 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) (expandable to 8 GB)
* 500GB (7200RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, * Up to 4.25 Hours of Battery Life
* 15.6" Diagonal High-Definition LED HP BrightView Display (1366x768), Intel HD Graphics with up to 1696MB Total Available Graphics Memory
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By J. DREIER (North Pole, AK)
I bought this HP for my wife to replace her 3 year old Toshiba. It's 100% her computer but she places everything technical in our lives on me and then holds me accountable for its performance. My wife is brutal on electronics and her laptop is no exception. The Toshiba had a VERY hard life and ticked along perfectly until the past few months. After wasting $200 on a failed repair (hard drive) I decided it was cheaper to replace it than to nurse it along. I initially went shopping for another Toshiba and frankly, I feel like I would be writing a 5 star review for a Toshiba if it hadn't come down to a $150 price difference. I was able to use the competing Toshiba at a retailer, but when I went to Amazon I found this HP. Nearly identical in performance and appearance; aside from a couple of keyboard control features they were the same. ....."
-end of quote-
For the Laptop Dock:
-quote-
"HP QuickDock 2.0 Docking Station (KN744AA)
Technical Details
* Connect your laptop and stay connected to everything--power, peripherals, Internet, and audio
* Access printers, keyboards, mice, and external hard drives via the 6 USB 2.0 ports
* Attach a monitor for expanded viewing with VGA port; connect to audio via headphone, S/PDIF and RCA digital audio jacks
* Recharge your battery when the laptop is connected to the dock
*Compatibility: HP Pavilion dv4, dv5, dv6, dv7, dv2000, dv6000, dx6000, dv9000, tx2, tx1000, tx2000, tx2500 series; HP HDX 16, 18, 9000 series; Compaq Presario CQ45, V3000, V6000 series"
-end of quote-
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M$
I've been happy with the HP Pavilion series.
Thanks for the insight! There is a lot of helpful information within those links.
Holiday Apartments Bol
Thanks for noticing about "Arkansas" & "Alaska", it's the abbreviation thing..
Edit: Never mind, I was going to correct you and say that @edwardclint had it right, but I see what happened. I think he thought AK was Arkansas, but Arkansas is AR. Anyway, that's neither here nor there - this is for a laptop question, haha.
Actually, @edwardclint, North Pole is in Alaska, not Arkansas, but no harm, no foul. The HP laptop that you mentioned was actually one that I was going to recommend...that, or an HP ProBook 5310 with a configured upgrade for additional memory, battery life, and a docking station. Windows 7 in and of itself will be able to accommodate a lot of @maggieray's multi-tasking needs, and HP offers some great small business laptops. The problem here, however, is that she needs this kind of laptop shipped to an APO address, and wants the warranty to apply to an overseas sale as well.
Amazon does NOT ship computers to an APO address, and neither does HP if you purchase directly form their online small business store. In addition, the HP warranty is a limited warranty only for computers shipped to these addresses.
Best Buy WILL ship laptops and computers to APO addresses, and the HP Pavilion laptop that you mentioned here is available from their online store for 50 dollars less than the Amazon price. Here is the link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174;+Core%26%23153;+i3+Processor+-+Espresso+Black/9700732.p?id=1218152460131&skuId=9700732&st=hp%20pavilion%20dv6&cp=1&lp=2
For $300 more, you could also upgrade to the quad core i7 processor, which will give you additional speed: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174;+Core%26%23153;+i7+Processor+-+Black/9714501.p?id=1218156772573&skuId=9714501&st=hp%20pavilion%20dv6&cp=1&lp=1
Thanks for the input, I will review this one too. I think my husband must have a twin in North Pole because this part sounds exactly like what he would have said -
"It's 100% her computer but she places everything technical in our lives on me and then holds me accountable for its performance. My wife is brutal on electronics and her laptop is no exception."
1. I run 10 different applications at the same time, all the time. Each with multiple tabs or windows up.
2. I hate rebooting. My uptime (between reboots) is strictly determined by software updates that require it. My longest period without rebooting was three weeks. Other people have gone much longer.
3. When I lift the lid it's ready to go in 3 seconds. Exactly where I left off. I need that.
4. Any network I'm logged into I'm connected. No tweaking or twiddling. I can see Windows Shares even in Windows Groups that can't find me.
5. Any hardware I need to access my MacBook detects and sets up, ready for use in seconds.
6. I love using an operating system that is veritably ignored by viruses. I run a virus scan program for fun. It takes 3 minutes.
7. I can easily boot into any version of Windows (or Linux) that I own if I really need to and share documents between O/S's easily.
Why did I pay extra for a Mac when a PC is so much cheaper? Because my Mac works. Always. I don't waste valuable time and resources on tech support, crashes, incompatible hardware, driver problems, unreadable formats, connectivity problems and blue screens. I don't waste time waiting for my machine to wake up from hibernate or sleep mode, often losing files in the process. I reboot when I want to, not because the O/S can't manage memory properly.
When all is said and done I spent far, far more maintaining my PC than I'll ever spend on a Mac. I have a Mac that is over 10 years old that still works as good as the day I bought it. I went through 3 PC's in that same time.
Getting the extended Apple Care Warranty gives you free phone support for anything you have going on with the Mac. It also covers shipping and parts if anything fails that shouldn't have.
If you get a Time Capsule you'll never lose your data again. I can do a full, bit for bit restore using Time Machine or go back to last year and find that file I deleted that I need again. So smooth, so easy, so Mac. So NOT PC. In fact if the MacBook I'm on now totally blew up I could pick up a new MacBook, tell it to make the machine mine using the data on the Time Capsule and overnight (restoring a 250GB Flash drive takes time) I'm right back where I was - history, cookies, temp files and all. Done.
Try any of these things on a PC. I laugh at your PC. Trust me, once you go Mac you'll never go back. And all your favorite Microsoft programs have Mac equivalents if not a Mac version itself. If you need to run software that is Windows only, just boot up under Windows and have at it - but be prepared for all the problems that come with it.
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M$
I'll have to read more about the Time Capsule, we have two MACs in the house (desktops) but I have not used them enough to have a feel for them yet. Does MAC now have something that is Microsoft Access compatible? The last time I had checked (which was a couple of years ago) they didn't and that played a big role in the decision to not buy one at the time. However, I was unaware of the boot under Windows option since I did not know anyone personally who was using one. I will have to look into that possibility also.
There are Access solutions such as http://www.actualtech.com/product_access.php or http://actual-odbc-driver-for-microsoft-access.en.softonic.com/mac.
With MS Office 2010 coming out soon they might have created a friendlier solution. Calling Microsoft Sales might be the only way to get a reliable answer. Otherwise third party solutions or dual boot may be the best answer.
My Time Capsule is Wi-Fi enabled so it handles all the Macs and internet access flawlessly. I hope you can find a solution you are happy with. An Apple expert can help you answer these questions before you buy too.
I agree with you silverhammer MAC still the best
Hi Maggie - I was in a very similar situation and am now happy with my Dell Latitude E6410. It's small but powerful: here are the stats:
Windows 7 Professional, Intel Core2 Duo CPU 2.67GHz, 4 GB RAM
Like you, I often have Outlook, Excel and Word open at the same time. I'm a trainer/developer for a customer service training company so I'm also do a lot of work in PowerPoint and have a lot of graphics loaded into memory. I find that this new laptop (probably thanks to the duo processor and increased memory) allows me to keep a bunch of applications open at the same time, which really bogged down my previous system. I believe this laptop and all Dells are available with an extended warranty. The current base price lists for just over $700; you'll have to check w/ them on the price they'll give you with all the features you want, but it's very reasonable for what you get. One thing I really love about it is the keypad; it's got perfect "action" so you can really type quickly w/o a lot of effort.
Let me know if you have any other questions about it. I'm not an advoocate for Dell; just a guy who's happy with my laptop.
www.dell.com
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M$
Hi Maggie - per your question below: no, I have no problems with the touchpad. It is not automatically disabled when it's docked, but neither is that a problem.
Thanks for the input. On the Dell you have do you have a problem with the touchpad when you type? everyone I know who has a dockable Dell has the issue where the cursor jumps all over the screen when you type on the laptop itself unless you totally disable the touchpad. Other laptops I had disabled it when you plugged a mouse in but not the current ones I have.
When I use my current Dell undocked, typing from the laptop keyboard it is a real pain because the cursor is all over the place. You don't even have to touch the touchpad, just come close it seems and it will move the cursor to some other part of the document. Even Dell could not tell me how to fix it short of disabling the pad. Sorry, that's not a fix for someone who travels a lot. Reading around the internet I see others have the same issue. If there is one thing that will keep me from looking at Dell again, that's it. I've lost so much productive time from that one little issue it may be a show stopper for using their product as a replacement.
These are the reason why this would be a great buy:
1. It offers impressive performance and affordability
2. Toshiba quality is dependable and reliable that will give your home, office, or work because
it is easy to use, an all-purpose, eco-conscious laptop
3. It has an ample processing power memory and storage for surfing the Net
4. You can do multi tasking with it without worrying that it is going to crash.
5. It has wireless broadband connectivity along with ports for enjoying and sharing media.
6. It comes with a pre-installed Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OS (64-bit version) which helps you find and manage files like Jump Lists and improved taskbars reviews which helps speeds up your everyday tasks.
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M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I called 411/information.
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M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
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M$
my pleasure!
Sounds like you're willing to invest on functionality and performance, so I do suggest you buy as many of the following features:
1. memory
2. an Intel Core i7, Intel Core i5 or at least Intel Core i3
3. a laptop that will "video out" to your monitor and TV, so you won't need a docking station. Laptop stands and USB keyboards are cheap.
4. a good resolution built-in webcam
Special mention goes to:
1. a built-in microphone
2. a high-sensitivity audio input and output jacks. For low-sensitivite audio and output laptops, you can buy a "plug and play" USB soundcard.
3. multi-touch screen, convertible to a tablet, if you don't have one or you don't plan to buy one.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Factory-Refurbished+Laptop+with+AMD+Turion%26%23153;+X2+Ultra+Dual-Core+Processor+-+Black/9716979.p?id=1218158633739&skuId=9716979
4. higher cell battery if you travel a lot
The following webpages will help you:
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000801.htm
http://www.geekwithlaptop.com/how-to-connect-laptop-to-tv
You have the following options:
*15-pin video connection
*Composite/phono plug (RCA)
*S-Video
*Video graphics array (VGA)
*Digital video interface (DVI)
*High-definition multimedia interface (HDMI)"
Oops! Sorry @hapahaole! I didn't see you down here, or I wouldn't have added to the other answer :(
thanks for the response, I will take a look at these
What do I look for to know if there is a "video out" capability?
Thanks for the generous tip.